


Lightweight

by orphan_account



Series: - xo RA - [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Smoking, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-15
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-20 21:58:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4803740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So,” Rachel hummed, stepping further inside with a Chloe attached at her hip. The blonde's hazel eyes glimmered  with a bright curiosity. “You’re the Max I’ve heard all about.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lightweight

**Author's Note:**

> Rachel's around, Chloe's hyped to introduce her to her best friend, and Max is nervous as all hell about the whole thing. AmberPriceField is my absolute favorite, and I'm devastated at the lack of content for it. Might as well make myself useful and contribute. 
> 
> Based in some sort of A/U where Max made it back to Arcadia Bay in time to meet the infamous Rachel Amber, or Rachel's still around, or - whatever best floats your boat.

The only things notable in Max Caulfield's field of vision were a series of blurs - pieces of trash. They flew by, disappeared with a crash, and landed at the bottom of some poor junker, the tiny pieces of crap rendered unidentifiable for the rest of their tragically short lives.

The source of the unidentified flying shit was, naturally, Chloe Price - bouncy as ever, with hands just itching for _something_ to do while waiting for her company. That something just so happened to be grabbing whatever meaningless garbage was within arm’s distance of her post against her and Rachel's lair, and aiming to make as much of a ruckus with it as possible.

A few mere feet away, Max's fingers tightened their grip on the bottom of her shirt. Knuckles white, lower lip caught in a fierce bite, Max was absolutely one-hundred percent unsure of what to do with herself... and one-hundred percent terrible at hiding her discomfort.

“She’ll be here soon,” came that familiar voice from above. Chloe, grinning ear-to-ear and looking picture perfect at every breath she took, seemed to be in a much better mood. She continued to entertain herself by tossing whatever garbage she could into whatever _bigger_ pieces of garbage she found. There was something about the needless destruction of property that just hit the spot.

“Yeah, I know.” Max replied, particularly meekly. Chloe could read that girl like a Dr. Seuss book, and she quirked an eyebrow at the hesitance she sensed in Max’s voice.

“What, you think she’s gonna ditch?” Abandoning the filthy baseball she'd held loosely in her grip, Chloe sauntered over closer to Max, opting to put her weight against a stack of old crates. “She’s not a flake, Caulfield, don’t freak. And if you’re just worried we won’t have any booze...“ she chuckled. “I’ve got a stash we can break into ourselves.”

It wasn’t the drinks she cared about, Chloe and her both knew that fully well. Max wasn’t particularly concerned with the timing of their visitor, either - it was nerves, plain and simple.

She was nervous about herself - wait, no, not herself. She was nervous about how she would compare to the infamous Rachel Amber.

 _Man_ , that Rachel Amber, the woman she’d only ever heard of in legends. Her name whispered among frat boys and valedictorians alike, all spreading various tales of her ridiculous ventures and of her famous appearances at parties and of the most hi- _larious_ thing that Rachel did that one time, like, you wouldn’t be- _lieve_.

When you hear that much praise about a person, it’s impossible not to be intimidated before you even meet them. When you hear so much praise about a person from the girl you love, well… There’s more than just a twinge of jealousy, too.

* * *

 

“And there she is!”

An obnoxiously loud cheer signaled the arrival of the guest of honor. Chloe sprung up from her relaxed position against the wall of their lair, stepping outside the brick monstrosity to greet the newcomer. With extended arms and a smile as bright as the sun, Chloe wrapped one arm around Rachel’s shoulder, carefully avoiding the arm that held a six-pack in tow; clearly some very precious cargo. After a few chuckles and words Max couldn't quite make out were exchanged between the two, she'd dragged Rachel back into the lair with one arm wrapped around her waist, beaming at Max and presenting Rachel like some kind of trophy.

“This,” she started, grinning. “Is Rachel. And Rachel, this is Max.”

_So here we are._

“Hey.” was all Max could muster in response, brows tensed in apprehension, rising from her sitting position to - she didn’t know, extend out an arm for a handshake?

A few excruciating seconds of Rachel glancing between Max’s hand and her face had passed, and, finally, Rachel _laughed_. It wasn’t any kind of a cruel laugh, no, it didn’t hurt her - but Max did find herself becoming increasingly self-conscious by the second. A firm nod as a return acknowledgement accompanied with an unfairly charming smile and a “hey, yourself”, instantly tripled the feeling.

Was this the way Chloe felt when she looked at her for the first time?

Max's mind was running on a loop, thoughts racing and heart pounding in her chest.  _Now you fucked up, Caulfield. Two minutes into the visit and you've already made an embarrassment of herself._

After settling on shoving both of her hands deeply into her pockets, she stepped backwards until she bumped into a brick wall of the interior of the lair. She made her best effort to pretend it was her intention to cooly lean against it in the first place.

“So,” Rachel hummed, stepping further inside with a Chloe attached at her hip. The blonde's hazel eyes glimmered with a bright curiosity. “You’re the Max I’ve heard all about.”

“You’ve… heard about me?” Now, _that_ threw her for a loop - Chloe had talked her ear off about Rachel until she felt sick to her stomach with jealousy, but the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind that Chloe would so much have mentioned Max's name to Rachel.

“ _Heard_ about you?” Rachel laughed again at this; lighter, this time, the sound resonating in Max’s ears like some kind of perfect melody - how could any single person invoke so much feeling within _seconds_ of meeting her? She'd known Rachel Amber for all of five minutes and was already in sheer awe. “Chloe here just can’t seem to keep her big mouth shut about you.”

“Aw, _can it_ , Rach,” Chloe groaned, prodding the other girl in the side with two fingers, eliciting a yelp and a squirm. “And hand over the booze. I’m dying of thirst, here.”

“I can tell.” Rachel snorted, shoving Chloe away from her side - _finally_ , Max thought - and setting the six-pack upon a not-very-sturdy looking cardboard box. By the time she’d pulled a drink out for Chloe and one for herself, the blue-haired girl was already leaning against the opposite wall for a smoke break, a hand outstretched towards the drink. “Just toss it.” she groaned. After all, she was already an entire eight feet away; having to backtrack that far a distance would be _tragedy_.

Rachel indulged her request, but not without a very intentional roll of her eyes. In a flash, Chloe had cracked the bottle open against a nearby mass of scrap metal, fully arming herself with bottle in one hand and smoke in the other. “Will you be indulging with us, Maxine? Or are our lowly peasant drinks too lame for you?” She turned her head to face Rachel, continuing her best impression of some sarcastic asshole straight out of the middle ages. “Why, Rachel, you ought to have purchased a more obscure brand for our lovely hipster child here.”

Max groaned - she wasn’t a drinker by any means, but this was an abnormal enough circumstance as is, so she decided to take the leap… and jolted an arm out in Chloe’s direction, giving her best grabby hands signal. Utilizing her best frat boy accent and an embarrassingly over-dramatic puff of her chest, she gave Chloe a stern upwards nod. “Booze me up, brah.”

After a moment of silent staring, Chloe's cigarette threatening to spill out of her agape mouth - the corners of her lips curled upwards, and she nearly choked laughing, one free hand moving up to cover her face in embarrassment. “Max, I hope you know that every time you use your frat-douche voice, a bird dies. Rach, please hook her up so I can tend to my bleeding ears. I would, but, you know,” she took the cigarette out of her mouth and wagged it along with her beer. "Just a lil' bit preoccupied."  

“Of _course_ you are,” Rachel replied. Her voice was riddled with faux-exasperation, but one hand was already on a free bottle. This time, there was no reckless throwing involved: instead, she carefully strolled closer to Max, and extended a perfectly manicured hand towards the smaller girl with drink in hand.

“Thanks.” Max replied, taking to cradling the newfound drink in her lap. It was chilly; coated in condensation, and she… she wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.

“Need some help?” Rachel chimed from above, wagging a bottle-opener keychain back and forth.

“Oh, yeah, that’d be…” Max trailed off, not quite sure where that sentence was going. It was easier to shut up and offer her bottle up to the older girl to take care of. “Yeah, thanks.”

Rachel made easy work of popping off the cap - the metal thing bounced about, landing somewhere in the heaps of dirt and trash - and then she took her sweet time settling down on the ground across from Max. Noticing the other two were done with standing, Chloe pulled up an old milk crate on Rachel’s side, and joined them in their almost-circle.

“So…” Chloe began, tossing her cigarette on the dirt below and making a point to grind her heel into the butt. “For the first official joining of the two coolest people in Arcadia Bay - excluding me, of course - I’d say we celebrate.”

“Oh? Celebrate?” Rachel tilted her head, eyelids lowering into a gaze that suggested a more devious curiosity this time.

“Damn right!” Chloe nodded, before directing her attention towards Max. “Say, Mad Max… You ever heard of a game called Kings Cup?”

“Kings with three people, really?” Rachel interjected, pulling the rim of her drink away from her lips. “And with beer? And with no actual cup?”

“Shut _uuup_ , will you?” Chloe drawled, purposefully bumping into and leaning on Rachel in protest. She received an arm loosely curled around her own in return, and Max suddenly wished she had chosen to sit against the wall closest to the crate. Would it be petty to rewind just for this? Probably.

“Well, I for one think a nice drinking game will be a great way for you and ol’ Maxie here to get to know each other. I’m sure she’ll loosen up and start spilling all the juicy details about her life after about… A half a beer in?”

“Hey, now!” Max yapped in response, puffing up her chest and planting her free-hand firmly upon her hip. “I am _not_ that much of a lightweight- “

“You’re not, are you?” Rachel chimed in, holding her own bottle by the rim and dangling it between two fingers. Already half empty. “I’ve got another sixer in my car, and I’m already almost down one. You’re falling behind, Miss Max.”

“Fine,” Max huffed, determined to prove her resolve. With a firm grip and a firm mind, she tipped the beer and her head back at a ninety degree angle... and visibly gagged and choked within seconds. Chloe and Rachel both laughed this time, and Max was rendered hideously embarrassed for the third time in, _what_ , twenty minutes?

That is, until Chloe leaned in towards her to brush the wetness that spilled out of the corner of her mouth with her thumb. When she shined Max that crooked grin of hers, she felt the anxious nausea in her gut start to settle itself down.

“It’s not as fun if you choke to death before we even start, Maxi Pad.” she chided, thumb lingering against Max’s bottom lip for just a second longer than should've been necessary. “You’re allowed to sip it just like a normal drink, I promise.”

“Hmph!” Max huffed loudly, pointedly jerking her head away from the two and taking another sip - resolute to get it right this try - and took a real swallow, made sure it went down the _right_ pipe this time... And a loud, smooth gulp confirmed her success.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Rachel giggled, leaning in closer towards Chloe. “I think I’ll like her.”

“Oh yeah,” Chloe affirmed, placing her bottle in the center of the circle, freeing up her other hand to tug Max over by the arm. The quick jerk caused Max to practically topple onto Chloe's side, but she didn't make much of an effort to wriggle out of the grasp. “You’ll love her.” Bright blue eyes shot to the side to catch Max’s own for a brief instant - and then her head turned back towards Rachel, holding Max just as closely all the while. “Not _nearly_ as much as I do, though.”

“Mm?" The way Rachel tilted her head in response almost seemed like she'd taken it as a challenge. "We’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?”

When she flashed Max a wink, she swore she felt something thump deep inside her chest.  

Maybe… this wouldn’t end as badly as she thought.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Any writing critique is encouraged and appreciated; I'm always looking to improve.


End file.
